Telecommunications Policy

This policy applies to all University staff members.

This policy governs the provision and use of the University's telecommunication facilities.

Use of University telecommunication facilities

1. Telecommunications facilities will only be provided to staff member or subsidised where there is a genuine business need, subject to approval by the staff member’s line manager.

2. Staff members may make personal local calls, provided they are kept to a reasonable level.

3. Toll calls of a personal nature are not permitted on phones paid for by the University except calls made in cases of genuine emergency.

4. The directors of faculty finance or finance managers will review all telecommunication charges monthly to ensure costs are valid and kept to a minimum.

5. Personal chargeable use of mobile devices must be kept to a minimum at all times.

6. Staff members are to check monthly usage costs and reimburse the University for excessive personal costs.

7. Misuse of any University telecommunication facilities can may result in the facilities being withdrawn from the staff and the staff being disciplined.

8. As a minimum, the University may seek recovery of any costs incurred by the University through misuse.

Mobile devices

9. University funded mobile devices will only be supplied to staff members who require a mobile device to support their role.

10. All requests for mobile devices must be approved by the staff member’s line manager.

11. All mobile devices must be purchased through the mobile phone co-ordinators who obtain handsets and service connections from the University’s preferred suppliers.

12. Staff members travelling overseas with University mobile devices should be aware of the high cost of international roaming and minimise call and data costs.

13. Costs related to personal use of mobile devices and mobile service connections must be kept to a minimum at all times, and excessive personal use costs must be reimbursed to the University.

14. When a staff member no longer requires, or is no longer eligible for a University funded mobile device, the device must be returned to the staff member’s line manager, for return to IT Procurement and reassignment or termination of the service.

15. Where the staff member wishes to retain the mobile phone number when leaving the University, this can be transferred to the staff member, subject to approval from their line manager and there being no cost to the University.

16. If a mobile device becomes inoperable or lost, the staff member must notify the mobile phone co-ordinator immediately (or the network supplier if outside working hours) to ensure the connection is deactivated.

17. Users may be required to meet the cost of replacing lost or damaged devices.

University reimbursements to staff

18. Staff members who do not have a University funded mobile phone and make calls on behalf of the University from a personal mobile phone, may be reimbursed for the actual verifiable costs attributable to University business, including costs associated with international roaming charges.

19. In exceptional circumstances, the University will reimburse staff for subsidised home broadband connections or home landline.

20. This needs to be within the limits below and approved by the staff’ members line manager:

• subsidy for home broadband is limited to the lower of 50% of the cost of the broadband plan or a maximum of $20 per month
• reimbursement of a home landline in a staff member’s name is limited to 50% of the rental charge

21. Subsidy reimbursements will be paid through the fortnightly salary run and are not subject to PAYE where reimbursement is less than 50% of the total cost of the service.

22. Where employment contract terms specify reimbursement of home phone and/or broadband connections, those terms override the reimbursement limits stated in the Telecommunications Policy.

23. Calls made on behalf of the University on prepaid mobile phones may be reimbursed based on evidence of calls.

24. The cost of prepaid cards will be reimbursed where these are purchased specifically for University use and authorised by the staff’s line manager.

25. The following costs are not reimbursable:

• the purchase, installation and maintenance of a broadband modem
• registration with an internet service provider

Security

26. All mobile devices must have passwords set to restrict access to the approved device holder only.

27. The University reserves the right to perform a remote wipe of any device connected to the University mobile plan should there be evidence that the device and/or the information contained on it has been compromised in any way.

The following definitions apply to this document:

Line manager is the manager that the staff reports to who is at level 2 or 3 of the University Organisation Structure (UOS).

Local calls includes calls within the local free calling area.

Mobile devices include mobile phones, smartphones, PDAs, pagers and tablets.

Staff member refers to an individual employed by the University on a full or part time basis.

Telecommunications facilities includes landlines, mobile devices, call plans and any telecommunication services purchased by the University.

Toll calls includes calls within New Zealand to locations outside the local free calling area; international calls; and calls to chargeable services such as 0900 numbers.

University means the University of Auckland including all subsidiaries.

Include the following:

• Financial Delegations Policy
• IT Acceptable Use Policy
• Sensitive Expenditure Policy
• Travel Policy
• Mobile phones User Guidelines
• Telecommunications Guidelines

Content manager: IT Procurement Manager
Owned by: DVCO
Approved by: Vice-Chancellor
Approval date: July 2017
Review date: July 2022